A proposed $5 million expansion project by DPM Fragrance — one expected to create 100 jobs locally — is on hold after the company was purchased by a private equity fund.
A new timeline for the plant’s construction, which was to locate in Cornerstone Park, “has not yet been determined,” a February letter from Carol Wolfe, DPM Fragrance’s vice president of operations and administration, to the Mississippi Development Authority obtained by The Dispatch states.
DPM was acquired by Spring Thymes Holdings LLC in a transaction that closed Jan. 28. DPM’s financial advisor, VRA Partners LLC, announced the transaction in a release last week.
A DPM press release issued Monday states the company will continue to have operations in Starkville and looks “forward to our facility there, supporting our growing manufacturing needs.”
In July, the company announced it would construct a 150,000-square-foot plant at the Highway 25 industrial park.
Funding sources for the project featured local and state incentives, including contributions from the Oktibbeha County Economic Development Authority, the state’s Community Development Block Grant program and from the Appalachian Regional Commission.
The delay forced supervisors to withdraw the county’s $1.5 million CDBG grant application Monday and de-obligate $255,000 previously made available by the ARC.
“DPM is not saying its ship has sunk. They’re just saying they’re delaying it. We’re being good stewards of the taxpayers’ dollars,” Phylis Benson, a project analyst with the Golden Triangle Planning and Development District, said.
Benson and the GTPDD helped land the ARC funding and was working on the county’s CDGB grant application.
When District 5 Supervisor Joe Williams asked how hard it will be to reacquire the ARC funding, Benson said she was optimistic about the county’s chances.
“I think as long as we don’t drag our feet … the door is open on this one,” she said.
Last summer, supervisors tapped Neel-Schaffer Inc. to construct the infrastructure improvements that would have been funded by the CDBG grant.
It is unknown if the county will have to go through another engineering application process if it again applies for a CDBG grant for the project in the future.
DPM Fragrance, which includes the Aspen Bay brand, was previously recognized as one of the fastest-growing, privately owned companies in the U.S. It specializes in the production of specialty candles sold by independent shops and upscale retail chains.
Spring Thymes, headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was founded in 1982 and “designs and markets unique, branded fragrances across the bath and body and home fragrance categories,” a VRA Partners release states.
Carl Smith covers Starkville and Oktibbeha County for The Dispatch. Follow him on Twitter @StarkDispatch
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 38 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
